Fluid reservoirs, such as ink cartridges for ink jet printers, commonly have one or more fluid-discharge ports with an opening through which fluid is delivered during use. In order to prevent loss of fluid, for example by spillage or evaporation during shipping or storage, it is common to provide a seal for the port or each of the ports. When the seal is removed so that the fluid reservoir can be used, it is important not to spill or splatter droplets of the fluid.
Fluid-ejection printing devices, such as ink jet printers, commonly have at least one fluid reservoir (or ink cartridge) and a printhead chassis that supports the ink cartridge. The ink cartridge may contain one or more fluid chambers that provide fluid to a printhead. If the ink cartridge has more than one ink chamber, each such chamber often retains fluid of a different color or function for multi-color printing. On the other hand, if the ink cartridge has only a single ink chamber, typically such chamber is used to retain a single fluid, such as black ink for black-and-white printing.
The printhead die containing the nozzles is typically connected directly or indirectly to the chassis. In order to form an image, the printhead die, along with the chassis and the ink cartridge, generally are moved in a lateral direction across a width of a substrate, such as paper, as fluid is ejected from the printhead. After the printhead forms a row-portion of the image along the width of the substrate, the substrate is advanced in a direction perpendicular to the lateral direction along a length of the substrate, so that the printhead can form a subsequent row-portion of the image. This process of advancing the substrate for each row-portion is repeated until a next substrate is needed or the image is completed.
When an ink chamber in the ink cartridge runs out of ink, a user is charged with the responsibility of removing the empty ink cartridge from the chassis and replacing it with a full ink cartridge. The task of replacing an ink cartridge must be simple and clean. Ink should not be allowed to stain the user's hands or clothes, and it also must not be allowed to drip into areas of the printer where it might cause damage.
When a new ink cartridge is shipped, a shipping seal is provided to seal the fluid discharge port(s). The shipping seal helps to prevent ink evaporation during long-term storage, as well as ink spillage due to air pressure changes that occur, for example, during air travel. However, subsequent to shipping, conventional seals have been found to allow fluid to splatter during a user's removal of the seal, thereby possibly causing staining or damage. Accordingly, a need in the art exists for a solution that mitigates the risk of fluid splatter during removal of a shipping seal from an ink cartridge.